ApsaraDB RDS is available in the following editions: Basic Edition, High-availability Edition, Cluster Edition, and Enterprise Edition. This topic describes the editions and the scenarios of each edition. This topic also describes how to view and change the edition of an ApsaraDB RDS instance.

Description of editions

EditionDescriptionScenarioSupported engine
RDS Basic Edition
  • Architecture: The database system consists of only a primary RDS instance. Computing is separated from storage.
  • Read-only instances: Read-only instances are not supported.
  • Personal learning
  • Microsites
  • Development and testing environments for small and medium-sized enterprises
  • ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL
  • ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL
  • ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server
RDS High-availability EditionArchitecture: The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in high availability (HA) mode. Dual-zone disaster recovery is supported. The secondary RDS instance cannot be directly accessed.
Note ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL and ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL allow you to create read-only RDS instances. For more information, see Create a read-only ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
  • Production databases for large and medium-sized enterprises
  • Databases that are used in industries such as the Internet, IoT, e-commerce, logistics, and gaming
  • ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL
  • ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL
  • ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server
  • ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB TX
RDS Cluster Edition
  • An ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL cluster supports the HA architecture of one primary node and one secondary node and the HA architecture of one primary node and two secondary nodes. The secondary nodes can be directly accessed.
  • An ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance supports the HA architecture of one primary RDS instance and one secondary RDS instance. The secondary RDS instance can be directly accessed. For more information, see Create a read-only ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
  • Production databases for large and medium-sized enterprises
  • Databases that are used in industries such as Internet-based new retail and automobile manufacturing, and databases that are used for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems
  • ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL
  • ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server
RDS Enterprise Edition
  • Architecture: The database system consists of one primary RDS instance, one secondary RDS instance, and one logger RDS instance. Disaster recovery in three zones is supported. The secondary RDS instance cannot be directly accessed.
  • Read-only instances: Read-only instances are supported for RDS instances that run MySQL. For more information, see Create a read-only ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
  • Core databases in the finance, securities, and insurance industries that require high data security
  • Core production databases for large enterprises
  • ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL

View the edition of an RDS instance

You can log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console, find the RDS instance, and then go to the Basic Information page to view the edition of the RDS instance. 11

Change the edition of an RDS instance

Database engineEdition change description
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQLIf your RDS instance runs one of the following database versions and RDS editions, you can upgrade the RDS instance from RDS Basic Edition to RDS High-availability Edition. For more information, see Upgrade an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance from Basic Edition to High-availability Edition.
  • MySQL 5.7 on RDS Basic Edition
  • MySQL 8.0 on RDS Basic Edition
If your RDS instance runs one of the following major engine versions and RDS editions, you can upgrade the RDS instance from RDS High-availability Edition to RDS Enterprise Edition:
  • MySQL 5.7 on RDS High-availability Edition (with local SSDs)
  • MySQL 8.0 on RDS High-availability Edition (with local SSDs)
ApsaraDB RDS for SQL ServerIf your RDS instance runs one of the following major engine versions and RDS editions, you can upgrade the RDS instance from RDS Basic Edition to RDS High-availability Edition. For more information, see Upgrade an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance from Basic Edition to High-availability Edition.
  • SQL Server 2016 EE on RDS Basic Edition
  • SQL Server 2012 EE Basic on RDS Basic Edition
  • SQL Server 2016 Web on RDS Basic Edition
  • SQL Server 2012 Web on RDS Basic Edition
If your RDS instance runs SQL Server 2008 R2 with local SSDs, you can upgrade the RDS instance from SQL Server 2008 R2 to SQL Server 2012 or SQL Server 2016. For more information, see 2008 Upgrade an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance with local SSDs from SQL Server 2008 R2 to SQL Server 2012 or SQL Server 2016.
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQLIf your RDS instance runs one of the following database versions and RDS editions, you can upgrade the RDS instance from RDS Basic Edition to RDS High-availability Edition. For more information, see Upgrade an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance from Basic Edition to High-availability Edition.
  • PostgreSQL 15 on RDS Basic Edition
  • PostgreSQL 14 on RDS Basic Edition
  • PostgreSQL 13 on RDS Basic Edition
  • PostgreSQL 12 on RDS Basic Edition
  • PostgreSQL 11 on RDS Basic edition
  • PostgreSQL 10 on RDS Basic edition
Note You cannot change the edition of an RDS instance that does not meet the requirements in the preceding table. If you want to change the edition of the RDS instance, you must create an RDS instance that runs the specified RDS edition and then migrate the data of the original RDS instance to the new RDS instance. For more information, see the following topics:

Instance types supported by various editions

For more information about the instance types that are supported by various editions, see ApsaraDB RDS instance families.

Features supported by various editions

For more information about the features that are supported by various editions, see Features.

Create an ApsaraDB RDS instance